Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси), is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.
Once part of the PersianSamanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991.
Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations.[10] In Uzbekistan about 45% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.[11]
Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but also the only Central Asian state to border all the other four.
Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than 150 km) with Afghanistan to south.
Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country; it is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world, i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries – the other being Liechtenstein.
Less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases.
The rest is vast desert (Kyzyl Kum) and mountains.
Main article: History of UzbekistanFemale statuette bearing the kaunakes. Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.Alexander at the Battle of Issos
The first people known in Central Asia were Iranian nomads from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first millennium BC.
Nomads spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region.
cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) began to appear as centers of government and culture.
Because of this trade on what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Mawarannahr was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity.[15] Map of the Sassanide empire
The Registan The Russians taking over the city of Khiva
For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Iranian empires, including the Parthian and Sassanid Empires.
Politics
Islam Karimov – President of UzbekistanUzbek parliament
Constitutionally, the Government of Uzbekistan provides for democracy.
The executive holds a great deal of power, and the legislature and judiciary have little power to shape laws. Under terms of a December 27, 1995 referendum, Islam Karimov's first term was extended. Another national referendum was held 27 January 2002 to extend the Constitutional Presidential term from 5 years to 7 years.
The referendum passed, and Karimov's term was extended by act of the parliament to December 2007. Most international observers refused to participate in the process and did not recognize the results, dismissing them as not meeting basic standards. The 2002 referendum also included a plan to create a bicameral parliament, consisting of a lower house (the Oliy Majlis) and an upper house (Senate). Members of the lower house are to be "full time" legislators. Elections for the new bicameral parliament took place on 26 December, but no truly independent opposition candidates or parties were able to take part.
The OSCE limited observation mission concluded that the elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. Several political parties have been formed with government approval. Similarly, although multiple media outlets (radio, TV, newspaper) have been established, these either remain under government control or rarely broach political topics. Independent political parties were allowed to organise, recruit members and hold conventions and press conferences, but they have been denied registration under restrictive registration procedures.
Main article: Human rights in Uzbekistan
The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan asserts that "democracy in the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be based upon common human principles, according to which the highest value shall be the human being, his life, freedom, honour, dignity and other inalienable rights."
However, non-governmental human rights watchdogs, such as IHF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as United States Department of State and Council of the European Union define Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights"[17] and express profound concern about "wide-scale violation of virtually all basic human rights".[18] According to the reports, the most widespread violations are torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions of freedoms: of religion, of speech and press, of free association and assembly.[19] The reports maintain that the violations are most often committed against members of religious organizations, independent journalists, human rights activists and political activists, including members of the banned opposition parties. In 2005, Uzbekistan was included into Freedom House's "The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies."
The official position is summarised in a memorandum "The measures taken by the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of providing and encouraging human rights"[20] and amounts to the following: the government does everything that is in its power to protect and to guarantee the human rights of Uzbekistan's citizens. Uzbekistan continuously improves its laws and institutions in order to create a more humane society. Over 300 laws regulating the rights and basic freedoms of the people have been passed by the parliament. For instance, an office of Ombudsman was established in 1996.[21] On 2 August 2005, President Islam Karimov signed a decree that was to abolish capital punishment in Uzbekistan on 1 January 2008.
The 2005 civil unrest in Uzbekistan, which resulted in several hundred people being killed, is viewed by many as a landmark event in the history of human rights abuse in Uzbekistan,[22][23][24] A concern has been expressed and a request for an independent investigation of the events has been made by the United States, European Union, the UN, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The government of Uzbekistan is accused of unlawful termination of human life and of denying its citizens freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. The government vehemently rebuffs the accusations, maintaining that it merely conducted an anti-terrorist operation, exercising only necessary force.[25] In addition, some officials claim that "an information war on Uzbekistan has been declared" and the human rights violations in Andijan are invented by the enemies of Uzbekistan as a convenient pretext for intervention into the country's internal affairs.[26]
Uzbekistan also does not allow Tajiks to teach in their youth in their native language. There have been cases of destroying great Tajiki (Farsi) literary works. (http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=70402)
Main articles: Provinces of Uzbekistan and Districts of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is divided into twelve provinces (viloyatlar, singular viloyat, compound noun viloyati e.g., Toshkent viloyati, Samarqand viloyati, etc.), one autonomous republic (respublika, compound noun respublikasi e.g. Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom Respublikasi, Karakalpakistan Autonomous Republic, etc.), and one independent city (shahar. compound noun shahri, e.g., Toshkent shahri). Names are given below in the Uzbek language, although numerous variations of the transliterations of each name exist.
Main article: Economy of UzbekistanAerial view of TashkentTashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.Samarkand
Along with many Commonwealth of Independent States economies, Uzbekistan's economy declined during the first years of transition and then recovered after 1995, as the cumulative effect of policy reforms began to be felt. It has shown robust growth, rising by 4% per year between 1998 and 2003 and accelerating thereafter to 7%-8% per year. According to IMF estimates,[28] the GDP in 2008 will be almost double its value in 1995 (in constant prices). Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged less than 10%.
Uzbekistan has a very low GNI per capita (US$610 in current dollars in 2006, giving a PPP equivalent of US$2,250).[29] By GNI per capita in PPP equivalents Uzbekistan ranks 169 among 209 countries; among the 12 CIS countries, only Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had lower GNI per capita in 2006. Economic production is concentrated in commodities: Uzbekistan is now the world's sixth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton,[30] as well as the seventh largest world producer of gold. It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal, copper, oil, silver and uranium.[31] Agriculture employs 28% of Uzbekistan's labour force and contributes 24% of its GDP (2006 data).[13] While official unemployment is very low, underemployment – especially in rural areas – is estimated to be at least 20%.[6] Still, at cotton-harvest time, all students and teachers are mobilized as unpaid labour to help in the fields.[32] The use of child labour in Uzbekistan has led several companies, including Tesco,[33] C&A,[34] Marks & Spencer, Gap, and H&M, to boycott Uzbek cotton.[35]
Facing a multitude of economic challenges upon acquiring independence, the government adopted an evolutionary reform strategy, with an emphasis on state control, reduction of imports and self-sufficiency in energy. Since 1994, the state-controlled media have repeatedly proclaimed the success of this "Uzbekistan Economic Model"[36] and suggested that it is a unique example of a smooth transition to the market economy while avoiding shock, pauperism and stagnation.
The gradualist reform strategy has involved postponing significant macroeconomic and structural reforms. The state in the hands of the bureaucracy has remained a dominant influence in the economy. Corruption permeates the society and grows more rampant over time: Uzbekistan's 2005 Corruption Perception Index was 137 out of 159 countries, whereas in 2007 Uzbekistan is at the very bottom of the ranking, 175 out of 179. A February 2006 report on the country by the International Crisis Group suggests that revenues earned from key exports, especially cotton, gold, corn and increasingly gas, are distributed among a very small circle of the ruling elite, with little or no benefit for the populace at large.[37][38]
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, "the government is hostile to allowing the development of an independent private sector, over which it would have no control".[39] Thus, the national bourgeoisie in general, and the middle class in particular, are marginalised economically and, consequently, politically.
The economic policies have repelled foreign investment, which is the lowest per capita in the CIS.[40] For years, the largest barrier to foreign companies entering the Uzbekistan market has been the difficulty of converting currency. In 2003, the government accepted the obligations of Article VIII under the International Monetary Fund.[41] providing for full currency convertibility. However, strict currency controls and the tightening of borders have lessened the effect of this measure.
Uzbekistan experienced rampant inflation of around 1000% per year immediately after independence (1992–1994). Stabilisation efforts implemented with guidance from the IMF[42] paid off. The inflation rates were brought down to 50% in 1997 and then to 22% in 2002. Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged less than 10%.[28] Tight economic policies in 2004 resulted in a drastic reduction of inflation to 3.8% (although alternative estimates based on the price of a true market basket, put it at 15%).[43] The inflation rates moved up to 6.9% in 2006 and 7.6% in 2007 but have remained in the single-digit range.[44]
The government of Uzbekistan restricts foreign imports in many ways, including high import duties. Excise taxes are applied in a highly discriminatory manner to protect locally produced goods. Official tariffs are combined with unofficial, discriminatory charges resulting in total charges amounting to as much as 100 to 150% of the actual value of the product, making imported products virtually unaffordable.[45] Import substitution is an officially declared policy and the government proudly reports a reduction by a factor of two in the volume of consumer goods imported.[46] A number of CIS countries are officially exempt from Uzbekistan import duties.
The Republican Stock Exchange (RSE) 'Tashkent' opened in 1994. It houses a securities exchange, real estate traders, the national investment fund and the national securities depositary. It does not trade all joint-stock companies each month, and therefore market capitalisation varies widely.[citation needed]
Uzbekistan's external position has been strong since 2003. Thanks in part to the recovery of world market prices of gold and cotton (the country's key export commodities), expanded natural gas and some manufacturing exports, and increasing labour migrant transfers, the current account turned into a large surplus (between 9% and 11% of GDP from 2003 to 2005) and foreign exchange reserves, including gold, more than doubled to around US$3 billion.[citation needed]
Main article: Demographics of UzbekistanUzbek children.Shakh-i Zindeh mosque, Samarkand.
Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.7 million people (July 2007 estimate)[6] comprise nearly half the region's total population.
The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its people are younger than 14 (2008 estimate).[6] According to official sources, Uzbeks comprise a majority (80%) of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Russians 5.5%, Tajiks 5%(official estimate and disputed), Kazakhs 3%, Karakalpaks 2.5% and Tatars 1.5% (1996 estimates).[6]
There is some controversy about the percentage of the Tajik population. While official state numbers from Uzbekistan put the number at 5%, the number is said to be an understatement and some Western scholars put the number up to 20%-30%.[47][2][48][49].
Uzbekistan has an ethnic Korean population that was forcibly relocated to the region by Stalin from the Soviet Far East in 1937–1938. There are also small groups of Armenians in Uzbekistan, mostly in Tashkent and Samarkand. The nation is 88% Muslim (mostly Sunni, with a 5% Shi'a minority), 9% Eastern Orthodox and 3% other faiths. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004 reports that 0.2% of the population are Buddhist (these being ethnic Koreans). The Bukharian Jews have lived in Central Asia, mostly in Uzbekistan, for thousands of years. There were 94,900 Jews in Uzbekistan in 1989[50] (about 0.5% of the population according to the 1989 census), but now, since the collapse of the USSR, most Central Asian Jews left the region for the United States or Israel. Fewer than 5,000 Jews remained in Uzbekistan in 2007.[51] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, significant emigration of ethnic Russians has taken place, mostly for economic reasons.[52]
In the 1940s, the Crimean Tatars, along with the Germans, Chechens, Greeks, Turks, Kurds and many other nationalities were deported to Central Asia.[53] Approximately 100,000 Crimean Tatars continue to live in Uzbekistan.[54] In 1974, there were 35,000 Greeks in Tashkent. Today, 12,000 remain.[55] The majority of Meskhetian Turks left Uzbekistan after 1989.[56]
At least 10% of Uzbekistan's labour force works abroad (mostly in Russia and Kazakhstan).[57]
Uzbekistan has a 99.3% literacy rate among adults older than 15 (2003 estimate),[6] which is attributable to the free and universal education system of the Soviet Union. Mosque of Bukhara
Main article: Islam in Uzbekistan
Islam is by far the dominant religion in Uzbekistan. In the early 1990s, many of the Russians remaining in the republic (about 8% of the population) were Orthodox Christians. An estimated 93,000 Jews also were present.
Despite its predominance, the practice of Islam is far from monolithic. Many versions of the faith have been practiced in Uzbekistan. The conflict of Islamic tradition with various agendas of reform or secularisation throughout the 20th century has left the outside world with a confused notion of Islamic practices in Central Asia.
In Uzbekistan the end of Soviet power did not bring an upsurge of Islamic fundamentalism, as many had predicted, but rather a gradual reacquaintance with the precepts of the faith. However after 2000, there seems to be a rise of support in favour of the Islamists.
Main article: Uzbek language
The Uzbek language is the only official state language.[58] The Tajik language is widespread in the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand because of their relatively large population of ethnic Tajiks.[2] Russian is an important language for interethnic communication, especially in the cities, including much day-to-day technical, scientific, governmental and business use. Russian is the main language of over 14% of the population and is spoken as a second language by many more. The use of Russian in remote rural areas has always been limited, and today school children have no proficiency in Russian even in urban centres. However, it was reported in 2003 that over half of the population could speak Russian, and a renewed close political relationship between Russia and Uzbekistan have meant that official discouragement of Russian has dropped off sharply.[59]
In 1992 Uzbekistan officially shifted back to Latin script[citation needed], but many signs and notices (including official government boards in the streets) are still written in Uzbek Cyrillic script that had been used in Uzbek SSR since 1940. Computers as a rule operate using the "Uzbek Cyrillic" keyboard, and Latin script is reportedly composed using the standard English keyboard.
Main article: Communications in Uzbekistan
According to the official source report, as of 10 March 2008, the number of cellular phone users in Uzbekistan reached 7 million, up from 3.7 million on 1 July 2007.[60] The largest mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers is MTS-Uzbekistan (former Uzdunrobita and part of Russian Mobile TeleSystems) and it is followed by Beeline (part of Russia's Beeline) and UCell (ex Coscom) (originally part of the U.S. MCT Corp., now a subsidiary of the Nordic/Baltic telecommunication company TeliaSonera AB).[61]
As of 1 July 2007, the estimated number of internet users was 1.8 million, according to UzACI.
Main article: Transportation in UzbekistanCentral Station of Tashkent Tashkent, the nation's capital and largest city, has a three-line rapid transit system built in 1977, and expanded in 2001 after ten years' independence from the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan is currently the only country in Central Asia with a subway system, which is promoted as one of the cleanest systems in the former Soviet Union. The stations are exceedingly ornate. For example, the station Metro Kosmonavtov built in 1984 is decorated using a space travel theme to recognise the achievements of mankind in space exploration and to commemorate the role of Vladimir Dzhanibekov, the Soviet cosmonaut of Uzbek origin. A statue of Vladimir Dzhanibekov stands near one of the station's entrances.
There are government-operated trams, buses and trolley buses running across the city. There are also many taxis, both registered and unregistered. Uzbekistan has car-producing plants which produce modern cars. The car production is supported by the government and the Korean auto company Daewoo. The Uzbek government acquired a 50% stake in Daewoo in 2005 for an undisclosed sum, and in May 2007 UzDaewooAuto, the car maker, signed a strategic agreement with General Motors-Daewoo Auto and Technology (GMDAT).[62] The government also bought a stake in Turkey's Koc in SamKocAuto, a producer of small buses and lorries. Afterwards, it signed an agreement with Isuzu Motors of Japan to produce Isuzu buses and lorries.[63]
Train links connect many towns within Uzbekistan, as well as neighboring former republics of the Soviet Union. Moreover, after independence two fast-running train systems were established. There is also a large airplane plant that was built during the Soviet era – Tashkent Chkalov Aviation Manufacturing Plant or ТАПОиЧ in Russian. The plant originated during World War II, when production facilities were evacuated south and east to avoid capture by advancing Nazi forces. Until the late 1980s, the plant was one of the leading airplane production centers in the USSR, but with collapse of the Soviet Union its manufacturing equipment became outdated, and most of the workers were laid off. Now it produces only a few planes a year, but with interest from Russian companies growing in it, there are rumours of production-enhancement plans.
Main article: Military of UzbekistanUzbek troop during a cooperative operation exercise
Uzbekistan possesses the largest military force in the Central Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure is inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving rapidly toward a fully restructured organisation, which will eventually be built around light and Special Forces. The Uzbekistan Armed Forces equipment is not modern, and training, while improving, is neither uniform nor adequate for its new mission of territorial security.
The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and supported an active program by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and Vozrozhdeniye Island). The Government of Uzbekistan spends about 3.7% of GDP on the military but has received a growing infusion of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and other security assistance funds since 1998.
Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., Uzbekistan approved the U.S. Central Command's request for access to a vital military air base, Karshi-Khanabad Airbase, in southern Uzbekistan. However Uzbekistan demanded that the U.S. withdraw from the airbases after the Andijan massacre and the U.S. reaction to this massacre. The last US troops left Uzbekistan in November 2005.
Main articles: Foreign relations of Uzbekistan and International organization membership of UzbekistanEmbassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, D.C.
Uzbekistan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in December 1991. However, it is opposed to reintegration and withdrew from the CIS collective security arrangement in 1999. Since that time, Uzbekistan has participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajikistan and Afghanistan conflicts, both of which it sees as posing threats to its own stability.
Previously close to Washington (which gave Uzbekistan half a billion dollars in aid in 2004, about a quarter of its military budget), the government of Uzbekistan has recently restricted American military use of the airbase at Karshi-Khanabad for air operations in neighboring Afghanistan.[64] Uzbekistan was an active supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalitions that have dealt with both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The relationship between Uzbekistan and the United States began to deteriorate after the so-called "colour revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine (and to a lesser extent Kyrgyzstan). When the U.S. joined in a call for an independent international investigation of the bloody events at Andijon, the relationship took an additional nosedive, and President Islam Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it closer to Russia and China, countries which chose not to criticise Uzbekistan's leaders for their alleged human rights violations.
In late July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate an air base in Karshi-Kanabad (near Uzbekistan's border with Afghanistan) within 180 days. Karimov had offered use of the base to the U.S. shortly after 9/11. It is also believed by some Uzbeks that the protests in Andijan were brought about by the U.K. and U.S. influences in the area of Andijan. This is another reason for the hostility between Uzbekistan and the West.
Uzbekistan is a member of the United Nations (UN) (since 2 March 1992), the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), Partnership for Peace (PfP), and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It belongs to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) (comprising the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but pulled out of the organization in 2005.
Uzbekistan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and hosts the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan joined the new Central Asian Cooperation Organisation (CACO) in 2002. The CACO consists of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is a founding member of, and remains involved in, the Central Asian Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and joined in March 1998 by Tajikistan.
In September 2006, UNESCO presented Islam Karimov an award for Uzbekistan's preservation of its rich culture and traditions. Despite criticism, this seems to be a sign of improving relationships between Uzbekistan and the West.
The month of October 2006 also saw a decrease in the isolation of Uzbekistan from the West. The EU announced that it was planning to send a delegation to Uzbekistan to talk about human rights and liberties, after a long period of hostile relations between the two. Although it is equivocal about whether the official or unofficial version of the Andijan Massacre is true, the EU is evidently willing to ease its economic sanctions against Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, it is generally assumed among Uzbekistan's population that the government will stand firm in maintaining its close ties with the Russian Federation and in its theory that the 2004–2005 protests in Uzbekistan were promoted by the USA and UK.
Main article: Culture of UzbekistanSee also: Music of Uzbekistan, Kurash, Islam in Uzbekistan, and Scout Association of UzbekistanTraditional Uzbek pottery.Uzbek women.Djamolidine Abdoujaparov was one of the world's top sprinters in cycling.Navoi Opera in Tashkent
Uzbekistan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the Uzbek being the majority group. In 1995 about 71% of Uzbekistan's population was Uzbek. The chief minority groups were Russians (8%), Tajiks (5–30%)[65][2][66][67], Kazaks (4%), Tatars (2.5%) and Karakalpaks (2%). It is said, however, that the number of non-Uzbek people living in Uzbekistan is decreasing as Russians and other minority groups slowly leave and Uzbeks return from other parts of the former Soviet Union.
When Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991, there was concern that Muslim fundamentalism would spread across the region. The expectation was that a country long denied freedom of religious practice would undergo a very rapid increase in the expression of its dominant faith. As of 1994, well over half of Uzbekistan's population was said to be Muslim, though in an official survey few of that number had any real knowledge of the religion or knew how to practice it. However, Islamic observance is increasing in the region.
Uzbekistan has a high literacy rate, with about 99.3% of adults above the age of 15 being able to read and write. However with only 88% of the under-15 population currently enrolled in education, this figure may drop in the future[citation needed]. Uzbekistan has encountered severe budgeting shortfalls in its education program. The education law of 1992 began the process of theoretical reform, but the physical base has deteriorated and curriculum revision has been slow.
Uzbekistan's universities create almost 600,000 graduates annually.
Uzbekistan is home to former racing cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. Abdoujaparov has won the points contest in the Tour de France three times, each time winning the coveted yellow jersey. The green jersey is second only to the yellow jersey. Abdoujaparov was a specialist at winning stages in tours or one-day races when the bunch or peloton would finish together. He would often 'sprint' in the final kilometre and had a reputation as being dangerous in these bunch sprints as he would weave from side to side in a sprint. This reputation earned him the nickname 'The Terror of Tashkent'.
Decades of questionable Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in a catastrophic scenario. The agricultural industry appears to be the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of the air and water in the country.[68]
The Aral Sea disaster is a classic example. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, acting as an influencing factor in the air moisture.[69] Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former area and decreased in volume threefold. Reliable – or even approximate – data have not been collected, stored or provided by any organisation or official agency. Much of the water was and still continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields - a crop that requires an extremely large amount of water to grow.[70] The numbers of animal deaths and human refugees from the area around the sea can only be guessed at. The question of who is responsible for the crisis – the Soviet scientists and politicians who directed the distribution of water during the 1960s, or the post-Soviet politicians who did not allocate sufficient funding for the building of dams and irrigation systems – remains open.
People
History
Government
Political Conditions
Economy
Defense
Foreign Relations
U.S. Relations
Travel/Business
Background Notes A-Z
October 2009 Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Traditional Uzbek dancer performs in historic Samarkand, Uzbekistan, July 2009. [U.S. Embassy Tashkent photo.]
Traditional Uzbek dancer performs in historic Samarkand, Uzbekistan, July 2009. [U.S. Embassy Tashkent photo.]
Country Map
Flag of Uzbekistan is three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a white crescent moon and 12 white stars in the upper hoist-side quadrant.
Geography
Area: 447,400 sq. km., slightly larger than California.
Major cities: Capital--Tashkent (pop. 2.5 million); Samarkand (600,000); Bukhara (350,000).
Terrain: Flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat, intensely irrigated river valleys along Amu Darya, Syr Darya; shrinking Aral Sea; semiarid grasslands surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in east.
Climate: Mid-latitude desert; long, hot summers, mild winters.
People
Nationality: Uzbek.
Population (July 2009 est.): 27.73 million.
Ethnic groups (1996 est.): Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5%.
Religions: Muslim 90% (mostly Sunni), Eastern Orthodox 5%, other 5%.
Languages: Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%.
Education: Literacy--97% (total population).
Health (2009 est.): Lifeexpectancy--68.95 years men; 75.15 years women.
Work force (15.28 million): Agricultural and forestry--28.2%; industry--33.9%; services--37.9%. (Source: World Development Indicators Database, April 2009).
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: September 1, 1991.
Constitution: December 8, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister, cabinet. Legislative--bicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis consists of an Upper House or Senate (100 seats; 84 members are elected by regional governing councils to serve five-year terms and 16 are appointed by the president) and a Lower House or Legislative Chamber (150 seats; elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms). Judiciary--Supreme Court, constitutional court, economic court.
Administrative subdivisions (viloyatlar): 12, plus Republic of Karakalpakstan and city of Tashkent.
Political parties and leaders: Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party--established February 18, 1995 in Tashkent, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 9, Ismail Saifnazarov, first secretary; Democratic National Rebirth Party (Milly Tiklanish Democratic Partiya) or MTP--established on June 3, 1995 in Tashkent, and merged with the National Democratic Party "Fidokorlar" ("Selfless men") on June 20, 2008, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 28, Ahtam Tursunov, chairman; People's Democratic Party or PDPU (Uzbekiston Halq Democratic Partiya, formerly Communist Party)--established November 1, 1991 in Tashkent, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 32, Latif Gulomov, first secretary; Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan--established December 3, 2003, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 41, Muhammadyusuf Mutalibjanovich Teshaboev, chairman; Ecological (“Green”) Movement--established 2009 in Tashkent (will be represented in parliament after elections in December 2009; 15 seats have been reserved.) Other political or pressure groups and leaders: Birlik (Unity) Movement--Abdurakhim PULATOV, chairman; Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party--Mohammed SOLIH, chairman (banned Dec. 1992); party of Agrarians and Entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan--Marat ZAHIDOV, chairman; Ozod Dekkon (Free Farmers) Party--Nigara KHIDOYATOVA, general secretary; Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan--Abdumannob PULATOV, chairman; Independent Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan--Mikhail ARDZINOV, chairman; Ezgulik--Vasilya INOYATOVA, chairwoman.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18, unless imprisoned or certified as insane.
Defense: Manpower fit for military service--males age 16-49 fit for military service: 6,304,446 (2009 est.), females age 16-49 fit for military service: 6,559,756 (2009 est.); 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 1-year conscript service obligation.
Economy
(Note: Government of Uzbekistan statistics are not consistently reliable. This report relies on unofficial estimates and states clearly when a figure is an estimate. Estimates by international financial institutions also use Government of Uzbekistan statistics.)
GDP: 2008 real GDP growth, according to the IMF based on Government of Uzbekistan statistics, was 9%. Actual GDP growth was likely lower.
Inflation: International institutions estimate inflation reached 12.5% in 2008, though actual inflation was likely higher, between 20%-22%.
Per capita GDP: Estimated per capita GDP in 2008, on a purchasing power parity measure, was $1,012.
Natural resources: Natural gas, petroleum, gold, coal, uranium, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum. Natural gas production in 2006 was 62.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). In 2008, the U.S. Government estimates 41.5 bcm of natural gas was consumed in Uzbekistan, and 17 bcm was exported. Estimated oil production in 2008 was 99,260 bbl/day.
Agriculture: Products--cotton, fourth-largest producer worldwide; vegetables, fruits, grain, livestock.
Industry: Types--textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, automobiles, chemical. The industrial production growth rate was estimated at 12.7% in 2008; electricity production was 50.1 billion kilowatt hours.
Budget (2008 estimates): Revenues--$11.8 (IMF Regional Economic Outlook, May 2009) billion; expenditure and net lending--$8.9 billion.
Trade: Totalexports--(2008 est., $11.5 billion f.o.b.): largest contribution from natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, cotton fiber, food products, automobiles. Majortrade partners (2008)--Russia 20.2%, Ukraine 8.4%, China 6.8%, Switzerland 5.7%, Republic of Korea 5.5%. Totalimports--(2008, $7.5 billion f.o.b.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, foodstuffs. Primary import partners (2008 est.)--CIS 42.7%, others 57.3%.
External debt (total gross, December 31, 2008 est.): $3.822 billion.
PEOPLE
Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.73 million people, concentrated in the south and east of the country, are nearly half the region's total population. Uzbekistan had been one of the poorest republics of the Soviet Union; much of its population was engaged in cotton farming in small rural communities. The population continues to be heavily rural and dependent on farming for its livelihood. Uzbek is the predominant ethnic group. Other ethnic groups include Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, and Tatar 1.5%. The nation is approximately 90% Sunni Muslim. Uzbek is the official state language; however, Russian is the de facto language for interethnic communication, including much day-to-day government and business use.
The educational system has achieved 97% literacy, and the mean amount of schooling for both men and women is 9 years. However, due to budget constraints and other transitional problems following the collapse of the Soviet Union, texts and other school supplies, teaching methods, curricula, and educational institutions are outdated and poorly kept. Additionally, the proportion of school-aged persons enrolled has been dropping. Although the government is concerned about this, budgets remain tight. Similarly, in health care, life expectancy is long, but after the breakup of the Soviet Union, health care resources have declined, reducing health care quality, accessibility, and efficiency. Uzbekistan continues to enjoy a highly educated and skilled labor force.
HISTORY
Located in the heart of Central Asia between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, Uzbekistan has a long and interesting heritage. The leading cities of the famous Silk Road--Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva--are located in Uzbekistan, and many well-known conquerors passed through the land. Alexander the Great stopped near Samarkand on his way to India in 327 B.C. and married Roxanna, daughter of a local chieftain. Conquered by Muslim Arabs in the eighth century A.D., the indigenous Samanid dynasty established an empire in the 9th century. Genghis Khan and his Mongols overran its territory in 1220. In the 1300s, Timur, known in the west as Tamerlane, built an empire with its capital at Samarkand. Uzbekistan's most noted tourist sites date from the Timurid dynasty. Later, separate Muslim city-states emerged with strong ties to Persia. In 1865, Russia occupied Tashkent and by the end of the 19th century, Russia had conquered all of Central Asia. In 1876, the Russians dissolved the Khanate of Kokand, while allowing the Khanates of Khiva and Bukhara to remain as direct protectorates. Russia placed the rest of Central Asia under colonial administration, and invested in the development of Central Asia's infrastructure, promoting cotton growing and encouraging settlement by Russian colonists.
In 1924, following the establishment of Soviet power, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan was founded from the territories including the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva and portions of the Ferghana Valley that had constituted the Khanate of Kokand. During the Soviet era, Moscow used Uzbekistan for its tremendous cotton growing and natural resource potential. The extensive and inefficient irrigation used to support the former has been the main cause of shrinkage of the Aral Sea to less than a third of its original volume, making this one of the world's worst environmental disasters. Uzbekistan declared independence on September 1, 1991.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The constitution of Uzbekistan provides for separation of powers, freedom of speech, and representative government. In reality, the executive holds almost all power. The judiciary lacks independence, and the legislature--which holds a few sessions each year--has limited power to shape laws. The president selects and replaces provincial governors. Islam Karimov, former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Uzbek SSR Communist Party, was elected to a five-year presidential term in December 1991 with 88% of the vote. In a December 1995 referendum, his term was extended to 2000. President Karimov was re-elected in January 2000 with 91.9% of the vote. In a January 2002 referendum, the term of the presidency was extended from five years to seven. President Karimov was re-elected in December 2007 with 88.1% of the vote. None of these elections or referenda were deemed free or fair.
The 2002 referendum also included a plan to create a bicameral parliament. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) limited observation mission concluded that the December 2004 parliamentary elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.
Uzbekistan has battled a low-intensity insurgency since the late 1990s. Early this decade, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) launched a number of small, cross-border raids. The IMU in summer 2001 allied itself with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, where most of its troops were then based, and subsequently engaged U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, the IMU appears to have become less active in Uzbekistan.
Terrorist bombings, blamed on the IMU and splinter groups, have occurred sporadically, including multiple, simultaneous attacks in Tashkent in 1998 that destroyed a portion of the Ministry of Interior headquarters and narrowly missed President Karimov. Death estimates in those attacks and in subsequent shootouts in Tashkent with alleged bombers range as high as 200. The official government death tally was sixteen. In March and April 2004, suicide bombers struck the U.S. and Israeli Embassies in Tashkent and also detonated devices in the city of Bukhara. In May 2005, armed gunman in the city of Andijon attacked a police station, seized weapons and then stormed a prison, freeing members of a local Islamic organization accused by the government of extremism. In events whose details remain unclear, the attackers then gathered in Andijon's main square. Thousands of local residents also gathered in the square. Shooting erupted between government forces and the insurgents, and a large but undetermined number of individuals were killed. The Government of Uzbekistan, which put the death toll at 187, refused to heed European and U.S. calls for an independent international investigation. Unofficial death toll estimates range as high as 700 to 800. While an international investigation did not take place, the government claimed to have conducted internal investigations into the May 2005 events. It discussed investigation techniques and results with diplomats and other international representatives in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In May 2009, a suicide bomber in the city of Andijon and an assault on a border post near the town of Khanabad on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border caused the Uzbek Government to temporarily close its border with Kyrgyzstan and to place some portions of the Ferghana Valley under lockdown conditions.
Human Rights
Uzbekistan has no meaningful political opposition. Four pro-government political parties hold all seats in the parliament, and independent political parties have been effectively suppressed since the early 1990s. Multiple independent and governmental media outlets (radio, TV, newspaper) exist. Self-censorship is the norm. Editors and journalists who have broached politically sensitive topics have routinely experienced repercussions, including loss of employment.
Since 1991, many prominent opponents of the government have fled, and others have been arrested. The government severely represses those it suspects of Islamic extremism, including those suspected of any affiliation to organizations such as the banned extremist Party of Islamic Liberation (Hizb ut-Tahrir) or the more moderate Nurcilar (followers of Said Nursi of Turkey). Thousands of suspected extremists have been incarcerated since 1992. The exact number remaining in custody is unknown but may be several thousand. A large number of prisoners have died in custody, many from disease and other poor conditions and others from mistreatment and abuse. Political prisoners and suspected extremists are allegedly treated worse than ordinary prisoners.
The police force and the intelligence service have used torture as a routine investigation technique. In May 2003, following the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Government of Uzbekistan drafted an action plan to implement the Rapporteur's recommendations. The government began enacting a number of the plan's provisions and has since restarted cooperation with international organizations involved in prison monitoring. Prison conditions and the prevalence of torture today are widely believed to remain problematic. Uzbekistan abolished the death penalty in January 2008. It became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in February 2009.
Principal Government Officials
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers--Islam Karimov
Prime Minister--Shavkat Mirziyaev
Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament--Ilgizar Sabirov
Speaker of the Legislative Chamber--Diloram Tashmukhamedova
Deputy Prime Ministers
Economics and Foreign Economic Complex--Rustam Azimov
Information System and Telecommunications Technology--Abdulla Aripov
Geology, Fuel and Energy, Chemical, Oil-Chemistry and Metallurgical Industry--Ergash Shaismatov
Social Issues, Education, Health Care--Rustam Kosimov
Communal Service, Transportation, Capital Construction and Construction Industry--Batir Hodjaev
Automobile Industry, Machinery, Electric-Technology, Aviation, Standardization of Products--Ulugbek Rozukulov
Women's Issues--Farida Akbarova
Key Ministers
Agriculture and Water Management--Saifiddin Ismailov
Defense--Kobil Berdiyev
Foreign Affairs--Vladimir Norov
Internal Affairs--Bahodir Matlyubov
Justice--Ravshan Mukhitdinov
Public Education--Gairat Shoumarov
Higher and Special Secondary Education--Azimjon Parpiev
Emergency Situations--Qosimali Ahmadov
Finance--Rustam Azimov
Economy--Sunatilla Bekenov
Culture and Sports--Anvar Jabborov
Health--Adkham Ikramov
Foreign Economic Relations, Investments, and Trade--Elyor Ganiev
Labor and Social Protection--Aktam Haitov
Other Key Officials
Chairman, National Bank-Foreign Economics--Saidakhmad Rakhimov
Chairman, Central Bank--Fayzulla Mullajanov
Chairman, State Committee on Statistics--Gofurjon Kudratov
Chairman, State Property--Dilshod Musaev
Chairman, State Committee for Customs--Sodirkhon Nosirov
Chairman, State Committee for Taxation--Botir Parpiev
Chairman, State Committee for Geology and Mineral--Narimon Ganiev
Chairman, National Security Service--Rustam Inoyatov
Chairman, Committee on Protection of State Border--Ruslan Mirzoyev
Secretary, National Security Council--Murod Ataev
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uzbekneftgaz--Nurmahammad Akhmedov
Ambassador to the United States--Abdulaziz Kamilov
Ambassador to the United Nations--Murod Asqarov
The Republic of Uzbekistan maintains an **embassy** at 1746 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel.: (202) 887-5300; fax (202) 293-6804. Its consulate and mission to the UN in New York are located at 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 326/327a, New York, NY 10017. Consulate tel.: (212) 754-7403; fax: (212) 486-7998.
ECONOMY
The economy is based primarily on agriculture and natural resource extraction. Uzbekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton, but natural gas has replaced it as the dominant source of foreign currency earnings. It also is a major exporter of gold, uranium, and strategic minerals. (Uranium is Uzbekistan’s largest export to the U.S.) Manufacturing has become increasingly important, particularly in the automotive sector, which is aimed primarily at export to the Russian market. Since independence, the government has followed a policy of gradual transition to a free market economy but most large enterprises are still state owned or controlled.
It is difficult to accurately estimate economic growth in Uzbekistan due to unreliable government statistics. Economic growth has been strong in the past few years, but wealth is strictly held by the elite. According to the World Bank, approximately 25% of Uzbeks live at or below the poverty line.
The government implements a strict import substitution policy to control foreign trade and prevent capital outflow. Substantial structural reform is needed, particularly in the area of improving the investment climate for foreign investors and liberalizing the agricultural sector. Although the government has committed itself in theory to the provisions of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Article VIII regarding currency convertibility for current account operations, in practice firms can wait more than a year for currency conversion. Convertibility restrictions, difficulty withdrawing local currency from bank accounts, and other government measures to control economic activity, (e.g., import and export restrictions, and intermittent border closings) have constrained economic growth and led international lending organizations to suspend or scale back credits.
GDP and Employment
The International Monetary Fund estimates the 2008 GDP growth figure as 9%. The IMF projects 2009 GDP growth of 7%. Unemployment and underemployment are very high, but reliable figures are difficult to obtain, as no recent credible surveying has been done. Unofficially, unemployment is estimated around 8% and underemployment around 25%. Underemployment in the agricultural sector is particularly high--which is important given the fact that 63% of the population is rural-based. Many observers believe that employment growth and real wage growth have been stagnant, given virtually no growth in output.
Labor
Literacy in Uzbekistan is almost universal, and workers are generally well-educated and well-trained. Worsening corruption in the country's education system in the past few years has begun to erode Uzbekistan's advantage in terms of its human capital, as grades and degrees are routinely purchased. Additionally, elementary and secondary students in the remote provinces have poor access to basic education. Most local technical and managerial training does not meet international business standards, but foreign companies engaged in production report that locally hired workers learn quickly and work effectively. The government has ceased a long-time program emphasizing foreign education, which in past years annually sent about 50 students to the United States, Europe, and Japan for university degrees, after which they had a commitment to work for the government for 5 years. Reportedly, about 60% of the students who studied abroad found employment with foreign companies upon their return, despite their 5-year commitment to work in the government. Uzbekistan subsidizes studies for students at Westminster University--one of a few Western-style educational institutions in Uzbekistan. For the 2009-2010 school year, Westminster admitted about 685 students (including graduate students). The government funded 53 students, and the university provided an additional 20 grants. Education at Westminster costs $4,900 per academic year.
With the closure or downsizing of many foreign firms, it is relatively easy to find qualified, well-trained employees, and salaries are very low by Western standards. The government has implemented salary caps in an attempt to prevent firms from circumventing restrictions on the withdrawal of cash from banks. Some firms had tried in the past to evade these limits on withdrawals by inflating salaries of employees, allowing firms to withdraw more money. These salary caps prevent many foreign firms from paying their workers as much as they would like. Labor market regulations in Uzbekistan are similar to those once used in the Soviet Union, with all rights guaranteed but some rights unobserved. Unemployment is a persistent problem, and a significant number of people continue to look for jobs in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, though the overall number might have declined in the past year due to slowing economies in neighboring countries. Business analysts estimate that a high number of Uzbek citizens are working abroad. Estimates range from lows of 3 million to highs of 5 million Uzbek citizens of working age living outside Uzbekistan, most in neighboring countries or Russia. Uzbekistan signed a labor agreement with Russia in 2007 to facilitate the temporary migration of Uzbek workers and the taxation of their income, though reportedly only 1,000 Uzbeks participated in this program in 2008.
Prices and Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Macroeconomic performance has been strong over the last three years and resulted in a positive trade balance. Real GDP growth was high, and official reserves continued to rise. Inflation is expected to be between 18%-22% in 2009. In order to combat inflation, the government has exercised strict currency controls, causing periodic shortages of cash. Reacting to the weakening of the dollar to the Euro, the government recently switched to the Euro for its accounting and financial management. The hospitality sector is following suit.
Outstanding external debt in 2008 was estimated at $3.822 billion. In 2007, the World Bank and the UN Development Program (UNDP) provided technical assistance to reform the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance into institutions that conduct market-oriented fiscal and monetary policy. But official economic data on Uzbekistan is still often unreliable and not always available. Bank reform is very slow and inhibits the ability of citizens or private companies to obtain credit and other banking services.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Agriculture and the agro-industrial sector contribute about 28% to Uzbekistan's GDP. Cotton is Uzbekistan's dominant crop, accounting for roughly 12% of the country's GDP in 2008. Uzbekistan also produces significant amounts of silk, wheat, fruit, and vegetables. Nearly all agriculture involves heavy irrigation. In 2008, the President signed a decree on enlargement of private farms, which has led to the redistribution of small farmers’ land in favor of large farms. Farmers and agricultural workers earn low wages, which the state seldom pays on a regular basis. In general, the government controls the agriculture sector, dictates what farms grow, and buys directly from the farmers to sell abroad.
Natural resources, minerals, and mining are integral to Uzbekistan's economy. Natural gas is Uzbekistan's most important foreign exchange earner, estimated at around 50% (2009). Gold is another important source of foreign earnings (about 7%-10% of total exports). Uzbekistan is the world's seventh-largest producer of gold, mining about 80 tons per year, and holds the fourth-largest reserves in the world. It produces oil for domestic consumption and has significant reserves of copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and uranium.
Trade and Investment
Uzbekistan's export/import policy is based on import substitution. The highly regulated trade regime has led to both import and export declines since 1996, although imports have declined more than exports, as the government squeezed imports to maintain hard currency reserves. Draconian tariffs and sporadic border closures and crossing "fees" decrease legal imports of both consumer products and capital equipment. Uzbekistan's traditional trade partners are from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), notably Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Non-CIS partners have been increasing in importance in recent years, with the European Union, China, South Korea, Germany, Japan, and Turkey being the most active.
Uzbekistan is a member of the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It has observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has publicly stated its intention to accede to the WTO. It is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization and is a signatory to the Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, the Paris Convention on Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement on Trademarks Protection, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In 2008, Uzbekistan was again placed on the special "301" Watch List for lack of intellectual copyright protection.
Since Uzbekistan's independence, U.S. firms have invested roughly U.S. $500 million in Uzbekistan. In 2006 and 2007, some foreign investors departed Uzbekistan because of declining investor confidence, harassment, and currency convertibility problems. However, in 2007 GM-DAT, a Korean subsidiary of GM, entered Uzbekistan when it signed a joint venture agreement with UzDaewoo to assemble Korean-manufactured cars for export and domestic sale, including Chevrolets. This plant in Asaka now produces many lines of cars under the Chevrolet nameplate for export to Russia as well as the domestic market. General Motors has also signed a deal to begin constructing powertrains in Uzbekistan at a new plant just outside Tashkent. Boeing also has a longstanding relationship with the national airline of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan Airways.
DEFENSE
Uzbekistan possesses the largest military forces in the Central Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure is inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving rapidly toward a fully restructured organization, which will eventually be built around light and Special Forces. The Uzbek Armed Forces' equipment is not modern, and training, while improving, is neither uniform nor adequate yet for its new mission of territorial security. The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and has supported an active program by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to demilitarize and clean up former weapons of mass destruction-related facilities in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and Vozrozhdeniye Island), as well as to guard against the proliferation of radiological materials across its borders. The Government of Uzbekistan spends about 2% of GDP on the military (2005 est.).
Beginning in the late 1990s until 2004, the government received U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and other security assistance funds. Beginning in 2004, new FMF and IMET assistance to Uzbekistan was stopped, as the Secretary of State, implementing U.S. Government legislation, was unable to certify that the Government of Uzbekistan was making progress in meeting its commitments, including respect for human rights and economic reform, under the U.S.-Uzbekistan Strategic Framework Agreement. Uzbekistan approved U.S. Central Command's request for access to a vital military air base in southern Uzbekistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., but asked the U.S. to leave in July 2005. All U.S. forces had departed this facility by November 2005.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Uzbekistan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the United Nations, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO Partnership for Peace, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Economic Cooperation Organization--comprised of the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but formally withdrew in 2005. Uzbekistan hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan is a founding member of the Central Asian Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (and which Tajikistan joined in March 1998). In 2002, Uzbekistan joined the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), which also includes Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In 2006, Uzbekistan joined the Eurasian Economic Community (EurASEC), comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, but subsequently withdrew in 2008.
Uzbekistan participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajik and Afghan conflicts, both of which it viewed as posing threats to its own stability. Uzbekistan is a supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalition combating terrorism in Afghanistan. It continues to support coalition anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan by allowing shipment of non-lethal goods through by rail to Afghanistan and by granting access to Germany to an air base in southern Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has actively participated in regional efforts to combat terrorism and the narcotics trade.
U.S.-UZBEK RELATIONS
The U.S. recognized the independence of Uzbekistan on December 25, 1991, and opened an Embassy in Tashkent in March 1992. U.S. policy since that time has been to support Uzbekistan’s development as an independent, sovereign country with democratic institutions rooted in the rule of law. The U.S. and Uzbekistan cooperated closely following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the start of the war in Afghanistan. However, relations cooled following U.S. and European demands for an independent, international investigation into the May 2005 Andijon violence and as the Government of Uzbekistan sought to limit the influence of U.S. and other foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on civil society, political reform, and human rights inside the country.
Since mid-2007, the United States and Uzbekistan have begun to rebuild cooperation on issues of mutual concern, including security and economic relations, as well as political and civil society issues. Uzbekistan has Central Asia's largest population and is important to U.S. interests in ensuring stability and security in the region.
Bilateral Economic Relations
Trade and investment. Trade relations are regulated by a bilateral trade agreement, which entered into force January 14, 1994. It provides for extension of most-favored-nation trade status between the two countries. The U.S. additionally granted Uzbekistan exemption from many U.S. import tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP status) on August 17, 1994. A Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed December 16, 1994; it has been ratified by Uzbekistan and received advice and consent of the U.S. Senate in October 2000. However, the Bilateral Investment Treaty will be unlikely to enter into force until Uzbekistan embarks on economic reform. The government is taking some modest steps to reduce the bureaucratic restraints on the nascent private sector.
Assistance. The only country bordering all other Central Asian states, Uzbekistan’s growth and development invariably affect issues such as energy, water, trade, and, ultimately, political and social stability within the region. U.S. Government assistance to Uzbekistan seeks to mitigate potential instability while bolstering social protection mechanisms and providing the basis for economic growth. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) achieves these aims through enhancing the development of civil society and the protection of human rights; fostering economic growth through agricultural initiatives and improved policy frameworks; promoting a healthier, better educated population while preventing HIV/AIDS; and enhancing border security while countering transnational crimes such as trafficking in persons. In addition, U.S. assistance focuses on strategies to mitigate potential conflicts around issues such as water and energy.
In 2009, USAID’s programmatic portfolio stands at an estimated $7 million and includes activities to develop NGOs; improve the accountability of political parties; promote human rights; prevent infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS; improve agriculture through value chains; enhance educational opportunities for people with disabilities; provide professional exchange opportunities for Uzbek experts; and improve the delivery of public services and electricity. Since 1993, USAID has provided over $300 million in assistance to Uzbekistan.
[**Fact sheet** on FY 2009 U.S. assistance to Uzbekistan.]
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--**Richard B. Norland**
Secretary--Patti Hagopian
Deputy Chief of Mission--Duane Butcher
Political/Economic Chief--Nicholas Berliner
Public Affairs Officer--Molly Stephenson
Management Officer--Robert Pitre
Consul--David Mico
Defense Attaché--LTC Michael Yuschak
USAID--James Bonner
The **U.S. Embassy** in Tashkent is located at 3 Moyqo'rq'on, 5th Block, Yunusobod District, Tashkent 700093; tel. [998] (71) 120-5450; fax: [998] (71) 120-6335; duty officer (cellular): [998] (90) 108-6911.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
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For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
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Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4-USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778); TDD/TTY: 1-888-874-7793. Passport information is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. You may speak with a representative Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) and a web site at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. The CDC publication "Health Information for International Travel" can be found at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentYellowBook.aspx. Further Electronic Information Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the export process, and more. STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from the Federal government. The site includes current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси), is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991.
Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations.[10] In Uzbekistan about 45% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day.[11]
Geography
History
Main article: History of Uzbekistan
Female statuette bearing the kaunakes. Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.
Alexander at the Battle of Issos
Politics
Constitutionally, the Government of Uzbekistan provides for democracy.
The executive holds a great deal of power, and the legislature and judiciary have little power to shape laws. Under terms of a December 27, 1995 referendum, Islam Karimov's first term was extended. Another national referendum was held 27 January 2002 to extend the Constitutional Presidential term from 5 years to 7 years.
The referendum passed, and Karimov's term was extended by act of the parliament to December 2007. Most international observers refused to participate in the process and did not recognize the results, dismissing them as not meeting basic standards. The 2002 referendum also included a plan to create a bicameral parliament, consisting of a lower house (the Oliy Majlis) and an upper house (Senate). Members of the lower house are to be "full time" legislators. Elections for the new bicameral parliament took place on 26 December, but no truly independent opposition candidates or parties were able to take part.
The OSCE limited observation mission concluded that the elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. Several political parties have been formed with government approval. Similarly, although multiple media outlets (radio, TV, newspaper) have been established, these either remain under government control or rarely broach political topics. Independent political parties were allowed to organise, recruit members and hold conventions and press conferences, but they have been denied registration under restrictive registration procedures.
[edit] Human rights
Main article: Human rights in UzbekistanThe Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan asserts that "democracy in the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be based upon common human principles, according to which the highest value shall be the human being, his life, freedom, honour, dignity and other inalienable rights."
However, non-governmental human rights watchdogs, such as IHF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as United States Department of State and Council of the European Union define Uzbekistan as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights"[17] and express profound concern about "wide-scale violation of virtually all basic human rights".[18] According to the reports, the most widespread violations are torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions of freedoms: of religion, of speech and press, of free association and assembly.[19] The reports maintain that the violations are most often committed against members of religious organizations, independent journalists, human rights activists and political activists, including members of the banned opposition parties. In 2005, Uzbekistan was included into Freedom House's "The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies."
The official position is summarised in a memorandum "The measures taken by the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of providing and encouraging human rights"[20] and amounts to the following: the government does everything that is in its power to protect and to guarantee the human rights of Uzbekistan's citizens. Uzbekistan continuously improves its laws and institutions in order to create a more humane society. Over 300 laws regulating the rights and basic freedoms of the people have been passed by the parliament. For instance, an office of Ombudsman was established in 1996.[21] On 2 August 2005, President Islam Karimov signed a decree that was to abolish capital punishment in Uzbekistan on 1 January 2008.
The 2005 civil unrest in Uzbekistan, which resulted in several hundred people being killed, is viewed by many as a landmark event in the history of human rights abuse in Uzbekistan,[22][23][24] A concern has been expressed and a request for an independent investigation of the events has been made by the United States, European Union, the UN, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The government of Uzbekistan is accused of unlawful termination of human life and of denying its citizens freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. The government vehemently rebuffs the accusations, maintaining that it merely conducted an anti-terrorist operation, exercising only necessary force.[25] In addition, some officials claim that "an information war on Uzbekistan has been declared" and the human rights violations in Andijan are invented by the enemies of Uzbekistan as a convenient pretext for intervention into the country's internal affairs.[26]
Uzbekistan also does not allow Tajiks to teach in their youth in their native language. There have been cases of destroying great Tajiki (Farsi) literary works. (http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=70402)
[edit] Provinces and districts
Main articles: Provinces of Uzbekistan and Districts of UzbekistanUzbekistan is divided into twelve provinces (viloyatlar, singular viloyat, compound noun viloyati e.g., Toshkent viloyati, Samarqand viloyati, etc.), one autonomous republic (respublika, compound noun respublikasi e.g. Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom Respublikasi, Karakalpakistan Autonomous Republic, etc.), and one independent city (shahar. compound noun shahri, e.g., Toshkent shahri). Names are given below in the Uzbek language, although numerous variations of the transliterations of each name exist.
(km²)
The provinces are further divided into districts (tuman).
[edit] Economy
Main article: Economy of UzbekistanAlong with many Commonwealth of Independent States economies, Uzbekistan's economy declined during the first years of transition and then recovered after 1995, as the cumulative effect of policy reforms began to be felt. It has shown robust growth, rising by 4% per year between 1998 and 2003 and accelerating thereafter to 7%-8% per year. According to IMF estimates,[28] the GDP in 2008 will be almost double its value in 1995 (in constant prices). Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged less than 10%.
Uzbekistan has a very low GNI per capita (US$610 in current dollars in 2006, giving a PPP equivalent of US$2,250).[29] By GNI per capita in PPP equivalents Uzbekistan ranks 169 among 209 countries; among the 12 CIS countries, only Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had lower GNI per capita in 2006. Economic production is concentrated in commodities: Uzbekistan is now the world's sixth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton,[30] as well as the seventh largest world producer of gold. It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal, copper, oil, silver and uranium.[31]
Agriculture employs 28% of Uzbekistan's labour force and contributes 24% of its GDP (2006 data).[13] While official unemployment is very low, underemployment – especially in rural areas – is estimated to be at least 20%.[6] Still, at cotton-harvest time, all students and teachers are mobilized as unpaid labour to help in the fields.[32] The use of child labour in Uzbekistan has led several companies, including Tesco,[33] C&A,[34] Marks & Spencer, Gap, and H&M, to boycott Uzbek cotton.[35]
Facing a multitude of economic challenges upon acquiring independence, the government adopted an evolutionary reform strategy, with an emphasis on state control, reduction of imports and self-sufficiency in energy. Since 1994, the state-controlled media have repeatedly proclaimed the success of this "Uzbekistan Economic Model"[36] and suggested that it is a unique example of a smooth transition to the market economy while avoiding shock, pauperism and stagnation.
The gradualist reform strategy has involved postponing significant macroeconomic and structural reforms. The state in the hands of the bureaucracy has remained a dominant influence in the economy. Corruption permeates the society and grows more rampant over time: Uzbekistan's 2005 Corruption Perception Index was 137 out of 159 countries, whereas in 2007 Uzbekistan is at the very bottom of the ranking, 175 out of 179. A February 2006 report on the country by the International Crisis Group suggests that revenues earned from key exports, especially cotton, gold, corn and increasingly gas, are distributed among a very small circle of the ruling elite, with little or no benefit for the populace at large.[37][38]
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, "the government is hostile to allowing the development of an independent private sector, over which it would have no control".[39] Thus, the national bourgeoisie in general, and the middle class in particular, are marginalised economically and, consequently, politically.
The economic policies have repelled foreign investment, which is the lowest per capita in the CIS.[40] For years, the largest barrier to foreign companies entering the Uzbekistan market has been the difficulty of converting currency. In 2003, the government accepted the obligations of Article VIII under the International Monetary Fund.[41] providing for full currency convertibility. However, strict currency controls and the tightening of borders have lessened the effect of this measure.
Uzbekistan experienced rampant inflation of around 1000% per year immediately after independence (1992–1994). Stabilisation efforts implemented with guidance from the IMF[42] paid off. The inflation rates were brought down to 50% in 1997 and then to 22% in 2002. Since 2003 annual inflation rates averaged less than 10%.[28] Tight economic policies in 2004 resulted in a drastic reduction of inflation to 3.8% (although alternative estimates based on the price of a true market basket, put it at 15%).[43] The inflation rates moved up to 6.9% in 2006 and 7.6% in 2007 but have remained in the single-digit range.[44]
The government of Uzbekistan restricts foreign imports in many ways, including high import duties. Excise taxes are applied in a highly discriminatory manner to protect locally produced goods. Official tariffs are combined with unofficial, discriminatory charges resulting in total charges amounting to as much as 100 to 150% of the actual value of the product, making imported products virtually unaffordable.[45] Import substitution is an officially declared policy and the government proudly reports a reduction by a factor of two in the volume of consumer goods imported.[46] A number of CIS countries are officially exempt from Uzbekistan import duties.
The Republican Stock Exchange (RSE) 'Tashkent' opened in 1994. It houses a securities exchange, real estate traders, the national investment fund and the national securities depositary. It does not trade all joint-stock companies each month, and therefore market capitalisation varies widely.[citation needed]
Uzbekistan's external position has been strong since 2003. Thanks in part to the recovery of world market prices of gold and cotton (the country's key export commodities), expanded natural gas and some manufacturing exports, and increasing labour migrant transfers, the current account turned into a large surplus (between 9% and 11% of GDP from 2003 to 2005) and foreign exchange reserves, including gold, more than doubled to around US$3 billion.[citation needed]
[edit] Demographics
Main article: Demographics of UzbekistanUzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.7 million people (July 2007 estimate)[6] comprise nearly half the region's total population.
The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its people are younger than 14 (2008 estimate).[6] According to official sources, Uzbeks comprise a majority (80%) of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Russians 5.5%, Tajiks 5%(official estimate and disputed), Kazakhs 3%, Karakalpaks 2.5% and Tatars 1.5% (1996 estimates).[6]
There is some controversy about the percentage of the Tajik population. While official state numbers from Uzbekistan put the number at 5%, the number is said to be an understatement and some Western scholars put the number up to 20%-30%.[47][2][48][49].
Uzbekistan has an ethnic Korean population that was forcibly relocated to the region by Stalin from the Soviet Far East in 1937–1938. There are also small groups of Armenians in Uzbekistan, mostly in Tashkent and Samarkand. The nation is 88% Muslim (mostly Sunni, with a 5% Shi'a minority), 9% Eastern Orthodox and 3% other faiths. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004 reports that 0.2% of the population are Buddhist (these being ethnic Koreans). The Bukharian Jews have lived in Central Asia, mostly in Uzbekistan, for thousands of years. There were 94,900 Jews in Uzbekistan in 1989[50] (about 0.5% of the population according to the 1989 census), but now, since the collapse of the USSR, most Central Asian Jews left the region for the United States or Israel. Fewer than 5,000 Jews remained in Uzbekistan in 2007.[51] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, significant emigration of ethnic Russians has taken place, mostly for economic reasons.[52]
In the 1940s, the Crimean Tatars, along with the Germans, Chechens, Greeks, Turks, Kurds and many other nationalities were deported to Central Asia.[53] Approximately 100,000 Crimean Tatars continue to live in Uzbekistan.[54] In 1974, there were 35,000 Greeks in Tashkent. Today, 12,000 remain.[55] The majority of Meskhetian Turks left Uzbekistan after 1989.[56]
At least 10% of Uzbekistan's labour force works abroad (mostly in Russia and Kazakhstan).[57]
Uzbekistan has a 99.3% literacy rate among adults older than 15 (2003 estimate),[6] which is attributable to the free and universal education system of the Soviet Union.
[edit] Religion
Main article: Islam in UzbekistanIslam is by far the dominant religion in Uzbekistan. In the early 1990s, many of the Russians remaining in the republic (about 8% of the population) were Orthodox Christians. An estimated 93,000 Jews also were present.
Despite its predominance, the practice of Islam is far from monolithic. Many versions of the faith have been practiced in Uzbekistan. The conflict of Islamic tradition with various agendas of reform or secularisation throughout the 20th century has left the outside world with a confused notion of Islamic practices in Central Asia.
In Uzbekistan the end of Soviet power did not bring an upsurge of Islamic fundamentalism, as many had predicted, but rather a gradual reacquaintance with the precepts of the faith. However after 2000, there seems to be a rise of support in favour of the Islamists.
[edit] Languages
Main article: Uzbek languageThe Uzbek language is the only official state language.[58] The Tajik language is widespread in the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand because of their relatively large population of ethnic Tajiks.[2]
Russian is an important language for interethnic communication, especially in the cities, including much day-to-day technical, scientific, governmental and business use. Russian is the main language of over 14% of the population and is spoken as a second language by many more. The use of Russian in remote rural areas has always been limited, and today school children have no proficiency in Russian even in urban centres. However, it was reported in 2003 that over half of the population could speak Russian, and a renewed close political relationship between Russia and Uzbekistan have meant that official discouragement of Russian has dropped off sharply.[59]
In 1992 Uzbekistan officially shifted back to Latin script[citation needed], but many signs and notices (including official government boards in the streets) are still written in Uzbek Cyrillic script that had been used in Uzbek SSR since 1940. Computers as a rule operate using the "Uzbek Cyrillic" keyboard, and Latin script is reportedly composed using the standard English keyboard.
[edit] Communications
Main article: Communications in UzbekistanAccording to the official source report, as of 10 March 2008, the number of cellular phone users in Uzbekistan reached 7 million, up from 3.7 million on 1 July 2007.[60] The largest mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers is MTS-Uzbekistan (former Uzdunrobita and part of Russian Mobile TeleSystems) and it is followed by Beeline (part of Russia's Beeline) and UCell (ex Coscom) (originally part of the U.S. MCT Corp., now a subsidiary of the Nordic/Baltic telecommunication company TeliaSonera AB).[61]
As of 1 July 2007, the estimated number of internet users was 1.8 million, according to UzACI.
[edit] Transportation
Main article: Transportation in UzbekistanTashkent, the nation's capital and largest city, has a three-line rapid transit system built in 1977, and expanded in 2001 after ten years' independence from the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan is currently the only country in Central Asia with a subway system, which is promoted as one of the cleanest systems in the former Soviet Union. The stations are exceedingly ornate. For example, the station Metro Kosmonavtov built in 1984 is decorated using a space travel theme to recognise the achievements of mankind in space exploration and to commemorate the role of Vladimir Dzhanibekov, the Soviet cosmonaut of Uzbek origin. A statue of Vladimir Dzhanibekov stands near one of the station's entrances.
There are government-operated trams, buses and trolley buses running across the city. There are also many taxis, both registered and unregistered. Uzbekistan has car-producing plants which produce modern cars. The car production is supported by the government and the Korean auto company Daewoo. The Uzbek government acquired a 50% stake in Daewoo in 2005 for an undisclosed sum, and in May 2007 UzDaewooAuto, the car maker, signed a strategic agreement with General Motors-Daewoo Auto and Technology (GMDAT).[62] The government also bought a stake in Turkey's Koc in SamKocAuto, a producer of small buses and lorries. Afterwards, it signed an agreement with Isuzu Motors of Japan to produce Isuzu buses and lorries.[63]
Train links connect many towns within Uzbekistan, as well as neighboring former republics of the Soviet Union. Moreover, after independence two fast-running train systems were established. There is also a large airplane plant that was built during the Soviet era – Tashkent Chkalov Aviation Manufacturing Plant or ТАПОиЧ in Russian. The plant originated during World War II, when production facilities were evacuated south and east to avoid capture by advancing Nazi forces. Until the late 1980s, the plant was one of the leading airplane production centers in the USSR, but with collapse of the Soviet Union its manufacturing equipment became outdated, and most of the workers were laid off. Now it produces only a few planes a year, but with interest from Russian companies growing in it, there are rumours of production-enhancement plans.
[edit] Military
Main article: Military of UzbekistanUzbekistan possesses the largest military force in the Central Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure is inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving rapidly toward a fully restructured organisation, which will eventually be built around light and Special Forces. The Uzbekistan Armed Forces equipment is not modern, and training, while improving, is neither uniform nor adequate for its new mission of territorial security.
The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and supported an active program by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and Vozrozhdeniye Island). The Government of Uzbekistan spends about 3.7% of GDP on the military but has received a growing infusion of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and other security assistance funds since 1998.
Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., Uzbekistan approved the U.S. Central Command's request for access to a vital military air base, Karshi-Khanabad Airbase, in southern Uzbekistan. However Uzbekistan demanded that the U.S. withdraw from the airbases after the Andijan massacre and the U.S. reaction to this massacre. The last US troops left Uzbekistan in November 2005.
[edit] Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of Uzbekistan and International organization membership of UzbekistanUzbekistan joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in December 1991. However, it is opposed to reintegration and withdrew from the CIS collective security arrangement in 1999. Since that time, Uzbekistan has participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajikistan and Afghanistan conflicts, both of which it sees as posing threats to its own stability.
Previously close to Washington (which gave Uzbekistan half a billion dollars in aid in 2004, about a quarter of its military budget), the government of Uzbekistan has recently restricted American military use of the airbase at Karshi-Khanabad for air operations in neighboring Afghanistan.[64] Uzbekistan was an active supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalitions that have dealt with both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The relationship between Uzbekistan and the United States began to deteriorate after the so-called "colour revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine (and to a lesser extent Kyrgyzstan). When the U.S. joined in a call for an independent international investigation of the bloody events at Andijon, the relationship took an additional nosedive, and President Islam Karimov changed the political alignment of the country to bring it closer to Russia and China, countries which chose not to criticise Uzbekistan's leaders for their alleged human rights violations.
In late July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate an air base in Karshi-Kanabad (near Uzbekistan's border with Afghanistan) within 180 days. Karimov had offered use of the base to the U.S. shortly after 9/11. It is also believed by some Uzbeks that the protests in Andijan were brought about by the U.K. and U.S. influences in the area of Andijan. This is another reason for the hostility between Uzbekistan and the West.
Uzbekistan is a member of the United Nations (UN) (since 2 March 1992), the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), Partnership for Peace (PfP), and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It belongs to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) (comprising the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but pulled out of the organization in 2005.
Uzbekistan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and hosts the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan joined the new Central Asian Cooperation Organisation (CACO) in 2002. The CACO consists of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is a founding member of, and remains involved in, the Central Asian Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and joined in March 1998 by Tajikistan.
In September 2006, UNESCO presented Islam Karimov an award for Uzbekistan's preservation of its rich culture and traditions. Despite criticism, this seems to be a sign of improving relationships between Uzbekistan and the West.
The month of October 2006 also saw a decrease in the isolation of Uzbekistan from the West. The EU announced that it was planning to send a delegation to Uzbekistan to talk about human rights and liberties, after a long period of hostile relations between the two. Although it is equivocal about whether the official or unofficial version of the Andijan Massacre is true, the EU is evidently willing to ease its economic sanctions against Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, it is generally assumed among Uzbekistan's population that the government will stand firm in maintaining its close ties with the Russian Federation and in its theory that the 2004–2005 protests in Uzbekistan were promoted by the USA and UK.
[edit] Culture
Main article: Culture of UzbekistanSee also: Music of Uzbekistan, Kurash, Islam in Uzbekistan, and Scout Association of UzbekistanUzbekistan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the Uzbek being the majority group. In 1995 about 71% of Uzbekistan's population was Uzbek. The chief minority groups were Russians (8%), Tajiks (5–30%)[65][2][66][67], Kazaks (4%), Tatars (2.5%) and Karakalpaks (2%). It is said, however, that the number of non-Uzbek people living in Uzbekistan is decreasing as Russians and other minority groups slowly leave and Uzbeks return from other parts of the former Soviet Union.
When Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991, there was concern that Muslim fundamentalism would spread across the region. The expectation was that a country long denied freedom of religious practice would undergo a very rapid increase in the expression of its dominant faith. As of 1994, well over half of Uzbekistan's population was said to be Muslim, though in an official survey few of that number had any real knowledge of the religion or knew how to practice it. However, Islamic observance is increasing in the region.
Uzbekistan has a high literacy rate, with about 99.3% of adults above the age of 15 being able to read and write. However with only 88% of the under-15 population currently enrolled in education, this figure may drop in the future[citation needed]. Uzbekistan has encountered severe budgeting shortfalls in its education program. The education law of 1992 began the process of theoretical reform, but the physical base has deteriorated and curriculum revision has been slow.
Uzbekistan's universities create almost 600,000 graduates annually.
[edit] Sport
Uzbekistan is home to former racing cyclist Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. Abdoujaparov has won the points contest in the Tour de France three times, each time winning the coveted yellow jersey. The green jersey is second only to the yellow jersey. Abdoujaparov was a specialist at winning stages in tours or one-day races when the bunch or peloton would finish together. He would often 'sprint' in the final kilometre and had a reputation as being dangerous in these bunch sprints as he would weave from side to side in a sprint. This reputation earned him the nickname 'The Terror of Tashkent'.[edit] Environment
Decades of questionable Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in a catastrophic scenario. The agricultural industry appears to be the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of the air and water in the country.[68]The Aral Sea disaster is a classic example. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, acting as an influencing factor in the air moisture.[69] Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former area and decreased in volume threefold. Reliable – or even approximate – data have not been collected, stored or provided by any organisation or official agency. Much of the water was and still continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields - a crop that requires an extremely large amount of water to grow.[70] The numbers of animal deaths and human refugees from the area around the sea can only be guessed at. The question of who is responsible for the crisis – the Soviet scientists and politicians who directed the distribution of water during the 1960s, or the post-Soviet politicians who did not allocate sufficient funding for the building of dams and irrigation systems – remains open.
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Uzbekistan
Geography
Area: 447,400 sq. km., slightly larger than California.
Major cities: Capital--Tashkent (pop. 2.5 million); Samarkand (600,000); Bukhara (350,000).
Terrain: Flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat, intensely irrigated river valleys along Amu Darya, Syr Darya; shrinking Aral Sea; semiarid grasslands surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in east.
Climate: Mid-latitude desert; long, hot summers, mild winters.
People
Nationality: Uzbek.
Population (July 2009 est.): 27.73 million.
Ethnic groups (1996 est.): Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5%.
Religions: Muslim 90% (mostly Sunni), Eastern Orthodox 5%, other 5%.
Languages: Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%.
Education: Literacy--97% (total population).
Health (2009 est.): Life expectancy--68.95 years men; 75.15 years women.
Work force (15.28 million): Agricultural and forestry--28.2%; industry--33.9%; services--37.9%. (Source: World Development Indicators Database, April 2009).
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: September 1, 1991.
Constitution: December 8, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister, cabinet. Legislative--bicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis consists of an Upper House or Senate (100 seats; 84 members are elected by regional governing councils to serve five-year terms and 16 are appointed by the president) and a Lower House or Legislative Chamber (150 seats; elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms). Judiciary--Supreme Court, constitutional court, economic court.
Administrative subdivisions (viloyatlar): 12, plus Republic of Karakalpakstan and city of Tashkent.
Political parties and leaders: Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party--established February 18, 1995 in Tashkent, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 9, Ismail Saifnazarov, first secretary; Democratic National Rebirth Party (Milly Tiklanish Democratic Partiya) or MTP--established on June 3, 1995 in Tashkent, and merged with the National Democratic Party "Fidokorlar" ("Selfless men") on June 20, 2008, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 28, Ahtam Tursunov, chairman; People's Democratic Party or PDPU (Uzbekiston Halq Democratic Partiya, formerly Communist Party)--established November 1, 1991 in Tashkent, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 32, Latif Gulomov, first secretary; Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan--established December 3, 2003, number of seats in the Legislative Chamber of the parliament 41, Muhammadyusuf Mutalibjanovich Teshaboev, chairman; Ecological (“Green”) Movement--established 2009 in Tashkent (will be represented in parliament after elections in December 2009; 15 seats have been reserved.) Other political or pressure groups and leaders: Birlik (Unity) Movement--Abdurakhim PULATOV, chairman; Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party--Mohammed SOLIH, chairman (banned Dec. 1992); party of Agrarians and Entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan--Marat ZAHIDOV, chairman; Ozod Dekkon (Free Farmers) Party--Nigara KHIDOYATOVA, general secretary; Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan--Abdumannob PULATOV, chairman; Independent Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan--Mikhail ARDZINOV, chairman; Ezgulik--Vasilya INOYATOVA, chairwoman.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18, unless imprisoned or certified as insane.
Defense: Manpower fit for military service--males age 16-49 fit for military service: 6,304,446 (2009 est.), females age 16-49 fit for military service: 6,559,756 (2009 est.); 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 1-year conscript service obligation.
Economy
(Note: Government of Uzbekistan statistics are not consistently reliable. This report relies on unofficial estimates and states clearly when a figure is an estimate. Estimates by international financial institutions also use Government of Uzbekistan statistics.)
GDP: 2008 real GDP growth, according to the IMF based on Government of Uzbekistan statistics, was 9%. Actual GDP growth was likely lower.
Inflation: International institutions estimate inflation reached 12.5% in 2008, though actual inflation was likely higher, between 20%-22%.
Per capita GDP: Estimated per capita GDP in 2008, on a purchasing power parity measure, was $1,012.
Natural resources: Natural gas, petroleum, gold, coal, uranium, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum. Natural gas production in 2006 was 62.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). In 2008, the U.S. Government estimates 41.5 bcm of natural gas was consumed in Uzbekistan, and 17 bcm was exported. Estimated oil production in 2008 was 99,260 bbl/day.
Agriculture: Products--cotton, fourth-largest producer worldwide; vegetables, fruits, grain, livestock.
Industry: Types--textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, automobiles, chemical. The industrial production growth rate was estimated at 12.7% in 2008; electricity production was 50.1 billion kilowatt hours.
Budget (2008 estimates): Revenues--$11.8 (IMF Regional Economic Outlook, May 2009) billion; expenditure and net lending--$8.9 billion.
Trade: Total exports--(2008 est., $11.5 billion f.o.b.): largest contribution from natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, cotton fiber, food products, automobiles. Major trade partners (2008)--Russia 20.2%, Ukraine 8.4%, China 6.8%, Switzerland 5.7%, Republic of Korea 5.5%. Total imports--(2008, $7.5 billion f.o.b.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, foodstuffs. Primary import partners (2008 est.)--CIS 42.7%, others 57.3%.
External debt (total gross, December 31, 2008 est.): $3.822 billion.
PEOPLE
Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 27.73 million people, concentrated in the south and east of the country, are nearly half the region's total population. Uzbekistan had been one of the poorest republics of the Soviet Union; much of its population was engaged in cotton farming in small rural communities. The population continues to be heavily rural and dependent on farming for its livelihood. Uzbek is the predominant ethnic group. Other ethnic groups include Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, and Tatar 1.5%. The nation is approximately 90% Sunni Muslim. Uzbek is the official state language; however, Russian is the de facto language for interethnic communication, including much day-to-day government and business use.
The educational system has achieved 97% literacy, and the mean amount of schooling for both men and women is 9 years. However, due to budget constraints and other transitional problems following the collapse of the Soviet Union, texts and other school supplies, teaching methods, curricula, and educational institutions are outdated and poorly kept. Additionally, the proportion of school-aged persons enrolled has been dropping. Although the government is concerned about this, budgets remain tight. Similarly, in health care, life expectancy is long, but after the breakup of the Soviet Union, health care resources have declined, reducing health care quality, accessibility, and efficiency. Uzbekistan continues to enjoy a highly educated and skilled labor force.
HISTORY
Located in the heart of Central Asia between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, Uzbekistan has a long and interesting heritage. The leading cities of the famous Silk Road--Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva--are located in Uzbekistan, and many well-known conquerors passed through the land. Alexander the Great stopped near Samarkand on his way to India in 327 B.C. and married Roxanna, daughter of a local chieftain. Conquered by Muslim Arabs in the eighth century A.D., the indigenous Samanid dynasty established an empire in the 9th century. Genghis Khan and his Mongols overran its territory in 1220. In the 1300s, Timur, known in the west as Tamerlane, built an empire with its capital at Samarkand. Uzbekistan's most noted tourist sites date from the Timurid dynasty. Later, separate Muslim city-states emerged with strong ties to Persia. In 1865, Russia occupied Tashkent and by the end of the 19th century, Russia had conquered all of Central Asia. In 1876, the Russians dissolved the Khanate of Kokand, while allowing the Khanates of Khiva and Bukhara to remain as direct protectorates. Russia placed the rest of Central Asia under colonial administration, and invested in the development of Central Asia's infrastructure, promoting cotton growing and encouraging settlement by Russian colonists.
In 1924, following the establishment of Soviet power, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan was founded from the territories including the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva and portions of the Ferghana Valley that had constituted the Khanate of Kokand. During the Soviet era, Moscow used Uzbekistan for its tremendous cotton growing and natural resource potential. The extensive and inefficient irrigation used to support the former has been the main cause of shrinkage of the Aral Sea to less than a third of its original volume, making this one of the world's worst environmental disasters. Uzbekistan declared independence on September 1, 1991.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The constitution of Uzbekistan provides for separation of powers, freedom of speech, and representative government. In reality, the executive holds almost all power. The judiciary lacks independence, and the legislature--which holds a few sessions each year--has limited power to shape laws. The president selects and replaces provincial governors. Islam Karimov, former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Uzbek SSR Communist Party, was elected to a five-year presidential term in December 1991 with 88% of the vote. In a December 1995 referendum, his term was extended to 2000. President Karimov was re-elected in January 2000 with 91.9% of the vote. In a January 2002 referendum, the term of the presidency was extended from five years to seven. President Karimov was re-elected in December 2007 with 88.1% of the vote. None of these elections or referenda were deemed free or fair.
The 2002 referendum also included a plan to create a bicameral parliament. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) limited observation mission concluded that the December 2004 parliamentary elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections.
Uzbekistan has battled a low-intensity insurgency since the late 1990s. Early this decade, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) launched a number of small, cross-border raids. The IMU in summer 2001 allied itself with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, where most of its troops were then based, and subsequently engaged U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, the IMU appears to have become less active in Uzbekistan.
Terrorist bombings, blamed on the IMU and splinter groups, have occurred sporadically, including multiple, simultaneous attacks in Tashkent in 1998 that destroyed a portion of the Ministry of Interior headquarters and narrowly missed President Karimov. Death estimates in those attacks and in subsequent shootouts in Tashkent with alleged bombers range as high as 200. The official government death tally was sixteen. In March and April 2004, suicide bombers struck the U.S. and Israeli Embassies in Tashkent and also detonated devices in the city of Bukhara. In May 2005, armed gunman in the city of Andijon attacked a police station, seized weapons and then stormed a prison, freeing members of a local Islamic organization accused by the government of extremism. In events whose details remain unclear, the attackers then gathered in Andijon's main square. Thousands of local residents also gathered in the square. Shooting erupted between government forces and the insurgents, and a large but undetermined number of individuals were killed. The Government of Uzbekistan, which put the death toll at 187, refused to heed European and U.S. calls for an independent international investigation. Unofficial death toll estimates range as high as 700 to 800. While an international investigation did not take place, the government claimed to have conducted internal investigations into the May 2005 events. It discussed investigation techniques and results with diplomats and other international representatives in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In May 2009, a suicide bomber in the city of Andijon and an assault on a border post near the town of Khanabad on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border caused the Uzbek Government to temporarily close its border with Kyrgyzstan and to place some portions of the Ferghana Valley under lockdown conditions.
Human Rights
Uzbekistan has no meaningful political opposition. Four pro-government political parties hold all seats in the parliament, and independent political parties have been effectively suppressed since the early 1990s. Multiple independent and governmental media outlets (radio, TV, newspaper) exist. Self-censorship is the norm. Editors and journalists who have broached politically sensitive topics have routinely experienced repercussions, including loss of employment.
Since 1991, many prominent opponents of the government have fled, and others have been arrested. The government severely represses those it suspects of Islamic extremism, including those suspected of any affiliation to organizations such as the banned extremist Party of Islamic Liberation (Hizb ut-Tahrir) or the more moderate Nurcilar (followers of Said Nursi of Turkey). Thousands of suspected extremists have been incarcerated since 1992. The exact number remaining in custody is unknown but may be several thousand. A large number of prisoners have died in custody, many from disease and other poor conditions and others from mistreatment and abuse. Political prisoners and suspected extremists are allegedly treated worse than ordinary prisoners.
The police force and the intelligence service have used torture as a routine investigation technique. In May 2003, following the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Government of Uzbekistan drafted an action plan to implement the Rapporteur's recommendations. The government began enacting a number of the plan's provisions and has since restarted cooperation with international organizations involved in prison monitoring. Prison conditions and the prevalence of torture today are widely believed to remain problematic. Uzbekistan abolished the death penalty in January 2008. It became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in February 2009.
Principal Government Officials
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers--Islam Karimov
Prime Minister--Shavkat Mirziyaev
Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament--Ilgizar Sabirov
Speaker of the Legislative Chamber--Diloram Tashmukhamedova
Deputy Prime Ministers
Economics and Foreign Economic Complex--Rustam Azimov
Information System and Telecommunications Technology--Abdulla Aripov
Geology, Fuel and Energy, Chemical, Oil-Chemistry and Metallurgical Industry--Ergash Shaismatov
Social Issues, Education, Health Care--Rustam Kosimov
Communal Service, Transportation, Capital Construction and Construction Industry--Batir Hodjaev
Automobile Industry, Machinery, Electric-Technology, Aviation, Standardization of Products--Ulugbek Rozukulov
Women's Issues--Farida Akbarova
Key Ministers
Agriculture and Water Management--Saifiddin Ismailov
Defense--Kobil Berdiyev
Foreign Affairs--Vladimir Norov
Internal Affairs--Bahodir Matlyubov
Justice--Ravshan Mukhitdinov
Public Education--Gairat Shoumarov
Higher and Special Secondary Education--Azimjon Parpiev
Emergency Situations--Qosimali Ahmadov
Finance--Rustam Azimov
Economy--Sunatilla Bekenov
Culture and Sports--Anvar Jabborov
Health--Adkham Ikramov
Foreign Economic Relations, Investments, and Trade--Elyor Ganiev
Labor and Social Protection--Aktam Haitov
Other Key Officials
Chairman, National Bank-Foreign Economics--Saidakhmad Rakhimov
Chairman, Central Bank--Fayzulla Mullajanov
Chairman, State Committee on Statistics--Gofurjon Kudratov
Chairman, State Property--Dilshod Musaev
Chairman, State Committee for Customs--Sodirkhon Nosirov
Chairman, State Committee for Taxation--Botir Parpiev
Chairman, State Committee for Geology and Mineral--Narimon Ganiev
Chairman, National Security Service--Rustam Inoyatov
Chairman, Committee on Protection of State Border--Ruslan Mirzoyev
Secretary, National Security Council--Murod Ataev
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uzbekneftgaz--Nurmahammad Akhmedov
Ambassador to the United States--Abdulaziz Kamilov
Ambassador to the United Nations--Murod Asqarov
The Republic of Uzbekistan maintains an **embassy** at 1746 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel.: (202) 887-5300; fax (202) 293-6804. Its consulate and mission to the UN in New York are located at 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 326/327a, New York, NY 10017. Consulate tel.: (212) 754-7403; fax: (212) 486-7998.
ECONOMY
The economy is based primarily on agriculture and natural resource extraction. Uzbekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton, but natural gas has replaced it as the dominant source of foreign currency earnings. It also is a major exporter of gold, uranium, and strategic minerals. (Uranium is Uzbekistan’s largest export to the U.S.) Manufacturing has become increasingly important, particularly in the automotive sector, which is aimed primarily at export to the Russian market. Since independence, the government has followed a policy of gradual transition to a free market economy but most large enterprises are still state owned or controlled.
It is difficult to accurately estimate economic growth in Uzbekistan due to unreliable government statistics. Economic growth has been strong in the past few years, but wealth is strictly held by the elite. According to the World Bank, approximately 25% of Uzbeks live at or below the poverty line.
The government implements a strict import substitution policy to control foreign trade and prevent capital outflow. Substantial structural reform is needed, particularly in the area of improving the investment climate for foreign investors and liberalizing the agricultural sector. Although the government has committed itself in theory to the provisions of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Article VIII regarding currency convertibility for current account operations, in practice firms can wait more than a year for currency conversion. Convertibility restrictions, difficulty withdrawing local currency from bank accounts, and other government measures to control economic activity, (e.g., import and export restrictions, and intermittent border closings) have constrained economic growth and led international lending organizations to suspend or scale back credits.
GDP and Employment
The International Monetary Fund estimates the 2008 GDP growth figure as 9%. The IMF projects 2009 GDP growth of 7%. Unemployment and underemployment are very high, but reliable figures are difficult to obtain, as no recent credible surveying has been done. Unofficially, unemployment is estimated around 8% and underemployment around 25%. Underemployment in the agricultural sector is particularly high--which is important given the fact that 63% of the population is rural-based. Many observers believe that employment growth and real wage growth have been stagnant, given virtually no growth in output.
Labor
Literacy in Uzbekistan is almost universal, and workers are generally well-educated and well-trained. Worsening corruption in the country's education system in the past few years has begun to erode Uzbekistan's advantage in terms of its human capital, as grades and degrees are routinely purchased. Additionally, elementary and secondary students in the remote provinces have poor access to basic education. Most local technical and managerial training does not meet international business standards, but foreign companies engaged in production report that locally hired workers learn quickly and work effectively. The government has ceased a long-time program emphasizing foreign education, which in past years annually sent about 50 students to the United States, Europe, and Japan for university degrees, after which they had a commitment to work for the government for 5 years. Reportedly, about 60% of the students who studied abroad found employment with foreign companies upon their return, despite their 5-year commitment to work in the government. Uzbekistan subsidizes studies for students at Westminster University--one of a few Western-style educational institutions in Uzbekistan. For the 2009-2010 school year, Westminster admitted about 685 students (including graduate students). The government funded 53 students, and the university provided an additional 20 grants. Education at Westminster costs $4,900 per academic year.
With the closure or downsizing of many foreign firms, it is relatively easy to find qualified, well-trained employees, and salaries are very low by Western standards. The government has implemented salary caps in an attempt to prevent firms from circumventing restrictions on the withdrawal of cash from banks. Some firms had tried in the past to evade these limits on withdrawals by inflating salaries of employees, allowing firms to withdraw more money. These salary caps prevent many foreign firms from paying their workers as much as they would like. Labor market regulations in Uzbekistan are similar to those once used in the Soviet Union, with all rights guaranteed but some rights unobserved. Unemployment is a persistent problem, and a significant number of people continue to look for jobs in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, though the overall number might have declined in the past year due to slowing economies in neighboring countries. Business analysts estimate that a high number of Uzbek citizens are working abroad. Estimates range from lows of 3 million to highs of 5 million Uzbek citizens of working age living outside Uzbekistan, most in neighboring countries or Russia. Uzbekistan signed a labor agreement with Russia in 2007 to facilitate the temporary migration of Uzbek workers and the taxation of their income, though reportedly only 1,000 Uzbeks participated in this program in 2008.
Prices and Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Macroeconomic performance has been strong over the last three years and resulted in a positive trade balance. Real GDP growth was high, and official reserves continued to rise. Inflation is expected to be between 18%-22% in 2009. In order to combat inflation, the government has exercised strict currency controls, causing periodic shortages of cash. Reacting to the weakening of the dollar to the Euro, the government recently switched to the Euro for its accounting and financial management. The hospitality sector is following suit.
Outstanding external debt in 2008 was estimated at $3.822 billion. In 2007, the World Bank and the UN Development Program (UNDP) provided technical assistance to reform the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance into institutions that conduct market-oriented fiscal and monetary policy. But official economic data on Uzbekistan is still often unreliable and not always available. Bank reform is very slow and inhibits the ability of citizens or private companies to obtain credit and other banking services.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Agriculture and the agro-industrial sector contribute about 28% to Uzbekistan's GDP. Cotton is Uzbekistan's dominant crop, accounting for roughly 12% of the country's GDP in 2008. Uzbekistan also produces significant amounts of silk, wheat, fruit, and vegetables. Nearly all agriculture involves heavy irrigation. In 2008, the President signed a decree on enlargement of private farms, which has led to the redistribution of small farmers’ land in favor of large farms. Farmers and agricultural workers earn low wages, which the state seldom pays on a regular basis. In general, the government controls the agriculture sector, dictates what farms grow, and buys directly from the farmers to sell abroad.
Natural resources, minerals, and mining are integral to Uzbekistan's economy. Natural gas is Uzbekistan's most important foreign exchange earner, estimated at around 50% (2009). Gold is another important source of foreign earnings (about 7%-10% of total exports). Uzbekistan is the world's seventh-largest producer of gold, mining about 80 tons per year, and holds the fourth-largest reserves in the world. It produces oil for domestic consumption and has significant reserves of copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and uranium.
Trade and Investment
Uzbekistan's export/import policy is based on import substitution. The highly regulated trade regime has led to both import and export declines since 1996, although imports have declined more than exports, as the government squeezed imports to maintain hard currency reserves. Draconian tariffs and sporadic border closures and crossing "fees" decrease legal imports of both consumer products and capital equipment. Uzbekistan's traditional trade partners are from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), notably Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Non-CIS partners have been increasing in importance in recent years, with the European Union, China, South Korea, Germany, Japan, and Turkey being the most active.
Uzbekistan is a member of the IMF, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It has observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and has publicly stated its intention to accede to the WTO. It is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization and is a signatory to the Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, the Paris Convention on Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement on Trademarks Protection, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In 2008, Uzbekistan was again placed on the special "301" Watch List for lack of intellectual copyright protection.
Since Uzbekistan's independence, U.S. firms have invested roughly U.S. $500 million in Uzbekistan. In 2006 and 2007, some foreign investors departed Uzbekistan because of declining investor confidence, harassment, and currency convertibility problems. However, in 2007 GM-DAT, a Korean subsidiary of GM, entered Uzbekistan when it signed a joint venture agreement with UzDaewoo to assemble Korean-manufactured cars for export and domestic sale, including Chevrolets. This plant in Asaka now produces many lines of cars under the Chevrolet nameplate for export to Russia as well as the domestic market. General Motors has also signed a deal to begin constructing powertrains in Uzbekistan at a new plant just outside Tashkent. Boeing also has a longstanding relationship with the national airline of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan Airways.
DEFENSE
Uzbekistan possesses the largest military forces in the Central Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure is inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving rapidly toward a fully restructured organization, which will eventually be built around light and Special Forces. The Uzbek Armed Forces' equipment is not modern, and training, while improving, is neither uniform nor adequate yet for its new mission of territorial security. The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and has supported an active program by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to demilitarize and clean up former weapons of mass destruction-related facilities in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and Vozrozhdeniye Island), as well as to guard against the proliferation of radiological materials across its borders. The Government of Uzbekistan spends about 2% of GDP on the military (2005 est.).
Beginning in the late 1990s until 2004, the government received U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and other security assistance funds. Beginning in 2004, new FMF and IMET assistance to Uzbekistan was stopped, as the Secretary of State, implementing U.S. Government legislation, was unable to certify that the Government of Uzbekistan was making progress in meeting its commitments, including respect for human rights and economic reform, under the U.S.-Uzbekistan Strategic Framework Agreement. Uzbekistan approved U.S. Central Command's request for access to a vital military air base in southern Uzbekistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., but asked the U.S. to leave in July 2005. All U.S. forces had departed this facility by November 2005.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Uzbekistan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the United Nations, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO Partnership for Peace, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Economic Cooperation Organization--comprised of the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but formally withdrew in 2005. Uzbekistan hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan is a founding member of the Central Asian Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (and which Tajikistan joined in March 1998). In 2002, Uzbekistan joined the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), which also includes Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In 2006, Uzbekistan joined the Eurasian Economic Community (EurASEC), comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, but subsequently withdrew in 2008.
Uzbekistan participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajik and Afghan conflicts, both of which it viewed as posing threats to its own stability. Uzbekistan is a supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalition combating terrorism in Afghanistan. It continues to support coalition anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan by allowing shipment of non-lethal goods through by rail to Afghanistan and by granting access to Germany to an air base in southern Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has actively participated in regional efforts to combat terrorism and the narcotics trade.
U.S.-UZBEK RELATIONS
The U.S. recognized the independence of Uzbekistan on December 25, 1991, and opened an Embassy in Tashkent in March 1992. U.S. policy since that time has been to support Uzbekistan’s development as an independent, sovereign country with democratic institutions rooted in the rule of law. The U.S. and Uzbekistan cooperated closely following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the start of the war in Afghanistan. However, relations cooled following U.S. and European demands for an independent, international investigation into the May 2005 Andijon violence and as the Government of Uzbekistan sought to limit the influence of U.S. and other foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on civil society, political reform, and human rights inside the country.
Since mid-2007, the United States and Uzbekistan have begun to rebuild cooperation on issues of mutual concern, including security and economic relations, as well as political and civil society issues. Uzbekistan has Central Asia's largest population and is important to U.S. interests in ensuring stability and security in the region.
Bilateral Economic Relations
Trade and investment. Trade relations are regulated by a bilateral trade agreement, which entered into force January 14, 1994. It provides for extension of most-favored-nation trade status between the two countries. The U.S. additionally granted Uzbekistan exemption from many U.S. import tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP status) on August 17, 1994. A Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed December 16, 1994; it has been ratified by Uzbekistan and received advice and consent of the U.S. Senate in October 2000. However, the Bilateral Investment Treaty will be unlikely to enter into force until Uzbekistan embarks on economic reform. The government is taking some modest steps to reduce the bureaucratic restraints on the nascent private sector.
Assistance. The only country bordering all other Central Asian states, Uzbekistan’s growth and development invariably affect issues such as energy, water, trade, and, ultimately, political and social stability within the region. U.S. Government assistance to Uzbekistan seeks to mitigate potential instability while bolstering social protection mechanisms and providing the basis for economic growth. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) achieves these aims through enhancing the development of civil society and the protection of human rights; fostering economic growth through agricultural initiatives and improved policy frameworks; promoting a healthier, better educated population while preventing HIV/AIDS; and enhancing border security while countering transnational crimes such as trafficking in persons. In addition, U.S. assistance focuses on strategies to mitigate potential conflicts around issues such as water and energy.
In 2009, USAID’s programmatic portfolio stands at an estimated $7 million and includes activities to develop NGOs; improve the accountability of political parties; promote human rights; prevent infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS; improve agriculture through value chains; enhance educational opportunities for people with disabilities; provide professional exchange opportunities for Uzbek experts; and improve the delivery of public services and electricity. Since 1993, USAID has provided over $300 million in assistance to Uzbekistan.
[**Fact sheet** on FY 2009 U.S. assistance to Uzbekistan.]
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--**Richard B. Norland**
Secretary--Patti Hagopian
Deputy Chief of Mission--Duane Butcher
Political/Economic Chief--Nicholas Berliner
Public Affairs Officer--Molly Stephenson
Management Officer--Robert Pitre
Consul--David Mico
Defense Attaché--LTC Michael Yuschak
USAID--James Bonner
The **U.S. Embassy** in Tashkent is located at 3 Moyqo'rq'on, 5th Block, Yunusobod District, Tashkent 700093; tel. [998] (71) 120-5450; fax: [998] (71) 120-6335; duty officer (cellular): [998] (90) 108-6911.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
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For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
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The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4-USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778); TDD/TTY: 1-888-874-7793. Passport information is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. You may speak with a representative Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
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Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov
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